Radio station bans Christmas classic, labelling it inappropriate

Backlash was inevitable when an Ohio radio station deemed a popular Christmas Carol inappropriate and decided not to play it this Christmas.

Most would be familiar with the holiday duet Baby, It's Cold Outside; it's been around since the 1940s and it has been covered by the likes of Jessica Simpson, Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel, Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel in the movie, Elf.

But on Tuesday listeners were shocked to discover the station had axed the popular carol, with Star 102 Cleveland's website explaining why the radio station won't play the song.

"I do realise that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong," presenter Glenn Anderson said in an statement.

"The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place," he said.

Apparently the song has been subject to scrutiny for years, even prior to the #MeToo movement which Mr Anderson cited in his explanation.

Find me in December losing friends by arguing that Baby It’s Cold Outside is not rapey and instead about a woman who wants to have sex but must make excuses for her desires & agency

The lyrics read like a conversation between a man and a woman with the woman saying she must leave, while the man insists she stays.

Some of the woman's lines include "Say, what's in this drink?", and "I ought to say no, no, no", while the man's lines are persistent.

Comedian and writer Jen Kirkman explained how the song may not be about a man persuading a woman to stay and have sex with him, but rather how a woman's reputation will suffer if she wants to stay, and does.

I’m so tired of this. The song seems odd now not cuz it’s about coercing sex but about a woman who knows her reputation is ruined if she stays. “Say what’s in this drink” is an old movie line from the 30’s that means “I’m telling the truth.” She wanted to get down and stay over. https://t.co/3TaQbUSoB1

"If you want to be outraged, be outraged about what the song is actually about - the double standard in regards to sex that women face and how nothing much has changed," she tweeted.

It was implied listeners wanted the song to be taken off the air, however a Facebook poll showed 94 per cent of people think the song is "a classic", with 6 per cent deeming the song as "inappropriate".

More than 5,000 people have voted since the station launched the poll on their Facebook page on 29 November.

"I can only speak for my own experience, but personally I adore this song and have never been offended by it or freaked out by it," one posted in the comments, saying they were a survivor and part of the Me Too movement.

"I do not believe it's about rape - it's a playful banter from a time when a woman would have been concerned people would think badly of her for staying, even if she wanted to. I'm glad my husband and I will be enjoying it on our holiday playlist."

While another did see how the lyrics were inappropriate, but pointed out by not playing the song won't change much.

"This song IS inappropriate, but I also understand it was written in the 40s. Erasing history won't change the future, education will.

"We don't erase our grandparents for having different views, we tell them what is and isn't acceptable anymore."

The song was written by Frank Loesser and his wife at the time, Lynn which they performed together at many parties.

The song found fame when it was used in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter.